


A Simple Cough

by Shadowclaw756



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29802759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowclaw756/pseuds/Shadowclaw756
Summary: "Hey Byakuya... Can I ask you something?""Sure,""You said something about this disease being caused by an unrequited love, so… Who’s it for?”orByakuya falls for Makoto, only to realize that it’s not that easy. Eventually, Makoto gets suspicious and checks it out.(And a second summary cause I wasn't sure which I liked more-)Byakuya isn’t supposed to fall in love. So when he finds himself coughing up flowers for a certain someone, he isn’t sure what to do.
Relationships: Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	A Simple Cough

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Danganronpa THH!
> 
> So, I also posted this on Wattpad, but I decided to post it on here as well, but as a giant oneshot-type thing. There are some parts I don't like, but overall I'm pretty happy. I will say, there are some parts that might be a little bit out of character for either of these characters, sorry about that. Anyways, enjoy!

Byakuya stared with a blank expression as Naegi chatted eagerly with Maizono. The two were getting awfully close these past few days. He knew that would only bring bad news. What would happen when one tried to take advantage of the other? It was bound to happen eventually. 

He wasn’t envious of them, of course. He would never be. He wasn’t supposed to have ‘friends’ or ‘relationships’ other than for work purposes. Any other reason for interacting with someone was pointless. He’d stick with that for the rest of his life. He knew that those ‘friends’ would only weigh him down, it’d be useless in the end anyways. 

He wasn’t trying to get information about them either. He hadn’t heard a thing either of them were saying. If anything, it was probably something he wouldn’t ever try to care about. He couldn’t bother to interact or try to make sense of their usual dumb conversations. 

So, if he wasn’t trying to get information from them, or was envious of them, why was he staring? He was honestly dumbfounded. He couldn’t find any other logical reason for staring at the two of them. 

It took him much longer than he cared to admit to stop staring. Luckily, it seemed like no one noticed. At least, he hoped no one noticed.

He coughed.

He thought nothing of it. Maybe he was just getting sick. While that wouldn’t be very optimal for him, it would probably be fine.

Until he coughed again.

It was barely any worse than the last, but it still concerned him. He soon stood up and excused himself from the group. Well, less of ‘excused’ more of, left with barely saying anything. It wasn’t unusual for him though, so he hoped no one noticed anything different about him. He walked into his room and shut the door behind him, quickly locking it. 

Why was he anxious? It was just a cough. It’s not like he was going to die or anything. 

He walked over to the desk in his room and sat down. He set his elbows down on the table and set his head in his hands. There was something about all of this that made him feel… Strange. Not ill or anything, just strange. 

He thought briefly back to Naegi and Maizono earlier. It was nothing interesting, just about how the two of them were bonding oddly well. 

He coughed again, this time it was worse. He felt his throat tighten as he coughed. Maybe he was getting sick? He covered his mouth and eventually the coughing subsided. He moved his hand away from his face, and then froze. 

In his hand was a single flower petal. 

His hand was shaking. He wasn’t worried about the fact that he’d just coughed up a flower petal, or that it had a single small speck of blood on it. No. He was shaking because of what might have caused this. As he coughed once more, he didn’t even realize that a second petal had fallen onto the desk. 

It was a day after the second trial. A lot had happened since then. For one, Maizono, Enoshima, Kuwata, Fujisaki, and Owada were all gone now. But, that wasn’t the only thing, he was slowly beginning to discover what the cause of his coughing was. 

The only issue was, he wasn’t sure how to solve it.

Byakuya stared at himself in the mirror, a displeased expression on his face. After reading a few books about what it could be, the results weren’t pleasing, to say the least. 

_ “T-This has to be wrong…! Something has to be false here…!” He exclaimed.  _

_ He slammed his fists down on the table. “N-No…! I refuse to believe that this is fact… There… There has to be some other reason!” _

_ He set his head down in his arms and sighed, coughing a few more times, which scattered petals around. He didn’t even care. “I-I… I can’t be…” He whispered. _

_ “Th-There’s no way that I, Byakuya Togami, have fallen for someone here…” He mumbled. He closed his eyes and huffed, still stubbornly refusing to believe it.  _

It’d taken a lot longer to accept than he had originally thought. It had taken just as long, if not longer, to get used to it. He still didn’t understand “Me? In love…?” He asked himself quietly. “But… With who?”

He still had no idea who it was he’d fallen for, or why. Would he ever even figure out? 

He shook his head and walked away from the sink and fell backwards onto his bed. He slowly began to list the remaining people it might be. Automatically he could remove a few people, the five people who had died. That was easy enough… He decided he could remove a few others, namely, Yamada, Fukawa, and Hagakure. He knew for a fact that those three would  _ never  _ be the answer. 

Who was left? Asahina, Ludenburg, Kirigiri, Sakura, Ishimaru, and Naegi-

He interrupted his thoughts as he coughed a few more times. He sat up and coughed into his hands a few times, petals fell onto them and he sighed. It was beginning to hurt, coughing up the petals.

He swiftly threw them away, any reminder that he’d fallen in love was awful. He huffed and sat back. It seemed that one of those names he’d listed was the culprit… But he wasn’t sure which one it was. He stood up and walked over to the door. It was better than sitting here in his room for the rest of the day. Plus, he needed to get more books to look into what he suspected he had, hanahaki. 

From what he knew so far, it was some kind of disease which is mostly unknown and seen as a myth in most areas. It’s a disease where flowers grow in someone’s lungs because of an unrequited love. If it’s not solved soon enough… Well… It’s not a good ending. 

So far, he hadn’t read much into the solutions. He was almost anxious to find out what they were, or if there were even any. He shook his head, no, he couldn’t be anxious. That wasn’t anything like him. He needed to calm down and just get on with it.

He walked up the stairs to the second floor of the school. It was after night time, so the halls were practically empty. He froze suddenly as he heard voices. He walked hesitantly around until he recognized who the two voices were from. One was Kirigiri and the other was Naegi… He held his breath as he listened. What were they talking about…? 

He tried to listen, but a sudden urge to cough overtook the need to listen. So, instead, he walked quickly and quietly into the library. He managed to hold out for a few more moments before he started coughing again. He covered his mouth quickly with his hands. It was a lot worse than he’d predicted. It was worse than the last few times he’d started coughing, at least. After a few moments he managed to stop coughing. He cautiously moved his hand away from his face and frowned as he saw multiple more flower petals. Along with that, were a few more specks of blood then he would have appreciated. 

He stumbled over to a trashcan in the room and brushed the flowers away. He didn’t even consider the possible consequences of someone finding the petals. He managed to stumble his way over to a seat where he sat down, breaths wavering slightly. 

He wasn’t sure why his breaths were wavering, he wasn’t worried, he wasn’t feeling ill, he had just coughed a bit more than last time. 

Why had he started coughing when he’d overheard Kirigiri and Naegi’s conversation? He hadn’t been feeling sick or anything before overhearing them. Did that mean something…? He’d rather not think about that at the moment…

Byakuya leaned against the wall and rubbed his temples. He felt awful today. Interacting with everyone and running around hadn’t done him much good with this stupid disease. He had a feeling it was progressively getting worse too, as he’d been coughing more frequently and more violently. While so far it hadn’t been anything too awful, it was still getting worse. 

He quickly covered his mouth and coughed once more, a few more times, even. He felt the petals scatter into his hands. He huffed and shook his head. He really didn’t want to slip up one of these times and cough in the trial. He shoved the few flower petals into his pocket and crossed his arms. He leaned his head against the wall and groaned as he heard the announcement that told everyone the trail was about to start. 

He made his way over to the trial entrance and stood, waiting. All of them were so slow when arriving at the trial, he hated waiting for them. He ran his hand through his hair and huffed as people began arriving. 

Before he knew it everyone was in the room. Thank god. They were quickly on their way to the trial. 

The trial went by quickly, and without many mistakes. Well, up until they neared the end, when he managed to slip up and nearly started coughing. He’d managed to suppress one of them, but the second time he wasn’t as lucky.

He’d coughed. It was bad. Worse than usual, at least. He’d barely managed to come up with an excuse so everyone wouldn’t be worried or suspect anything. Thankfully, he’d managed to hide the flowers that had escaped into his pocket. He just desperately hoped that no one noticed anything.

He could still feel the horrible sensation of all their eyes burning into him.

He stared at the ceiling of his dorm, he’d never slip up like that again. He hated himself for even managing to slip up like that. He’d managed to pass it off as nothing at the time, but how long would they believe that lie…? How long would he be able to keep up that lie? 

He closed his eyes, he could figure this all out later… After suppressing a multitude of coughs during the trial, he was out of energy. He was just tired. He needed a break, something he never thought he’d say to himself. He took a deep breath in and let himself fall into sleep. 

Byakuya walked into the dining hall. It’d been a while since he’d gone there in the morning. He wasn’t sure why he decided to join them on this day of all days, but it might have to do something about Fukawa following him around all the time. He didn’t leave his room often, but when he did, Fukawa was always there somehow, following him. He was beginning to worry that she’d try to kill him one of these days, it was bound to happen eventually. 

He walked into the room, things seemed tense with the few people that were already there. He got a few looks of suspicion and surprise, but he ignored all of them. He had no reason to acknowledge them anyways.

He sat down at the circular table away from the main group and tried not to be bothered by the eager gaze of Fukawa. He almost felt the need to travel over to the other table to get away from her, but felt that would be giving her too much credit. 

He shifted in his seat and instead tried to focus on whatever the others did during this time. He had no idea, he hadn’t joined them since before Maizono and Kwata died. He could barely overhear some of their conversations. Something about the events the previous days. Discussion about the last trial. Other discussions about who was going to die next. And the occasional comments about him being there today. He could feel they’re occasional gazes even without looking at them. 

He ignored them. 

After a while his eyes drifted from one person to another. Who in the world could this ‘unrequited love’ be for? He still had yet to find out. He went through one person at a time, slowly deciding that they weren’t worth his time. 

“ _ Asahina… No, for sure no. She’s too… Loud, and rash. Ogami? No, certainly no. While she’s nice, she isn’t my type.”  _ He thought as he scanned the room. There really weren't many people left alive. He’d practically listed off half the other students already, along with leaving one out. Who was left…? “ _ Ah, Kirigiri and… _ ” He trailed off as he slowly located the two remaining options. 

Kirigiri and Makoto were chatting. For some reason it stopped his thoughts. He wasn’t sure why. They were just talking. It wasn’t his problem. But, for whatever reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off of the two. He wasn't jealous, was he? What was there to be jealous about anyways? 

He turned away, realizing that he’d been staring for a while. Well, maybe his answer was somewhere hidden with those two. What was it about those two that fascinated him so much then?

He glanced away towards the double doors that were the entrance to the dining hall, the urge to cough returning. He didn’t want to be in the room when he coughed, that would just raise everyone’s suspicions of him. He didn’t want them knowing what was wrong with him. That would be the worst outcome. 

So, instead, he stood up and walked out of the room, waving his hand in dismissal. “Hey! Byakuya, where ya goin'?” He heard the annoying voice of Hagakure call. 

He rolled his eyes and huffed, “I don’t need to tell you anything, and  _ don’t _ call me that.” He snapped, keeping his voice ‘calm’ and not raspy with the overcoming urge to start coughing. He ignored any other comment and made his way quickly back to his room. He silently hoped that none of them followed him as he slammed the door shut behind him.

As soon as he did, he started coughing. He covered his mouth with his hand and rushed over to the bathroom where he continued to cough. He stared at the floor in front of him as his legs seemingly stopped working and he collapsed. He set one of his hands on the wall for support. The petals scattered across the floor and he felt pain spiral through him as he watched it happen. He winced and closed his eyes, continuing to cough. This one was worse than usual. He felt like he was saying that a lot recently. 

He stopped coughing after a little while and opened his eyes. Petals scattered across the floor around him, blood slowly trickling out of his mouth and pooling onto the ground. It wasn’t a lot, but it was certainly more than the last few times. He clenched his teeth, ignoring the metallic taste of blood. He attempted not to swallow as he made his way over to the sink and rinsed out his mouth. 

He stared at himself in the mirror with a disappointed look. He looked awful. Apparently this disease was really taking more of a toll on him than he was really paying attention to. He shook his head, he was still struggling to believe that he had a disease that revolved entirely around love. An unrequited love, to be more specific. 

The more and more he thought about it the worse it got. Not only did it seem like he was in love, which was bad enough as is, but, it also seemed like there was something else. The person he was in love with, might be male. The evidence was pointing to it more and more. He glared at himself in the mirror, him? A Togami in love with someone? Let alone a dude?! He would be seen as a complete disgrace to the family! A disappointment, even. 

He turned away from the mirror with a scowl. He could deal with that later… For now, he needed to clean up the remaining flower petals and blood. Maybe then he could find some kind of solution to this horrible issue. 

Byakuya stared at the wall, a scowl appearing on his face. His cough was getting worse, not to mention, it was getting slowly harder and harder to breathe by the day. He slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, burying his face into his arms. He felt awful. Not only was he probably going to die from this disease, but he also wasn’t sure if the consequences would end up being worse if he lived.

He leaned his head against the wall, a feeling he wasn’t sure what, creeping slowly up through him. It’d been a while since he’d found out it was Makoto who’d caused this state of his, but still, here he was, trying to deny it. He barely even knew anything about the totally average student! What even was there to like about him? Well, other than his cute smile, the way that he spoke, the way that he-  _ No, no! _ That was outrageous of him, he couldn’t be thinking about that kind of stuff…! 

He covered his mouth and started coughing once more. He’d been dealing with these random coughing fits. It was becoming much harder to tell when one was going to happen. He had slowly realized that thinking about the ‘unrequited love’ had something to do with the effects, though.

He stumbled his way over to the bathroom where he started coughing more violently. After collapsing onto the ground and briefly cleaning things up, he’d finally stopped coughing. The cough had definitely gotten worse. Flower petals were scattered across the area once more, along with smaller pools of blood. He sighed, quickly cleaning the remaining parts of the mess before looking into the mirror. 

He didn’t look great, to say the least. He looked tired at best, dark circles could be seen under his eyes, he looked more pale than usual, and his hair was messy. He sighed and glanced away from the mirror. He probably would have to leave sometime soon to avoid being seen by people. The night time announcement had sounded not long ago, and he had a feeling that would be the only way he’d be able to avoid people. He didn’t want them thinking he ‘wasn’t feeling well’ or ‘needed help’. Because, he didn’t. Simple as that. 

He walked out of the bathroom and slumped onto his bed, all motivation that he had was now lost. He sighed and stared over at the wall, a blank expression on his face as his thoughts swarmed through his head. 

_ Knock knock _

Byakuya shot his head over in the direction of the door. Who in the world would want to talk to him at this hour? Who wanted to talk to him in general?

He bit his lip, had he just been imagining things? He hoped he was just imagining things. He really didn’t want to interact with anyone at that moment in time. 

_ Knock knock knock _

He sighed, that confirmed his suspicions. He walked over to the door and held his breath. If he opened the door and Fukawa was standing there, he would be so enraged. He opened up the door, immediately snapping, “What do you want?”

“A-Ah…! I-I’m sorry… I didn’t wake you, did I?” He felt his heart leap as he realized who was standing there. It was a timid Makoto. 

He cleared his throat, forgetting that was most likely a bad idea with his ever-present cough. “No.” he replied with a cold voice. “What do you want at this hour?” He snarled, not in the mood to talk with anyone. 

“O-Oh! Yeah. I just wanted to check in, see how you were doing and stuff? No one had really seen you in a few days and we were getting worried. So I just, y’know, wanted to check in…?” He explained with a quick voice. 

Byakuya huffed and turned away from the smaller boy, “Well, whatever. I’m alive, aren’t I? Now leave.” He spat. “There’s no need for you to be standing there anymore, do you not remember how your legs work?” He sneered. 

Makoto’s expression changed from worried to slightly annoyed instantly. “What? I just wanted to check in on you! What made you think that snapping at me would help!?” He asked, bewildered. 

Byakuya opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He felt bad…? Why did he feel bad? Before this he could insult anyone for little to no reason and have no issues, but here he was struggling to even speak. Instead of words, a single cough escaped him. 

Makoto’s expression quickly changed once more, this time to a more concerned expression. “Ah! A-Are you alright? You’re not sick or anything, are you?” He asked. 

Byakuya quickly forced himself to say something, “No. I’m fine. Stop asking dumb questions.” He spat. “Are you leaving soon, or not? I can’t bear to look at your face for much longer.” 

Makoto huffed, “What’s the matter with you!? I’m just trying to make sure you’re okay! You deflecting the question is not making this situation any better, by the way!” He added, crossing his arms. 

“I’m not deflecting the question, I already answered your question. Now  _ leave _ .”

“No. I’m not leaving until I’m sure you’re alright. No one’s seen you since… Since the trial, practically! Have you even left your room since then?” 

Byakuya bit his lip. Makoto was catching onto him a lot faster than he expected. 

“You look awful too! I mean, not  _ awful  _ awful… But, y’know, pale, and… And… Yeah…” Makoto pouted, trying to stand on his toes to be eye to eye with him, which still didn’t work. 

“So? What’s your point?” He asked. Being in Makoto’s presence was not helping the everlasting urge to cough. 

“Well, I wanted to… Er… Stay the night? Y’know, then I can… Um… Well- Ah, that sounded a lot worse aloud than I thought… So, I could- and I- It-” Makoto stammered, struggling to get his point across. 

“Fine.” Byakuya spoke without thinking. What was  _ wrong  _ with him!? Why in the world did he say that aloud?

“And I- I’m sor- Wait, what!?” Makoto turned to him, obviously shocked by his response. 

“Are you deaf? I said, ‘fine’!” Byakuya snapped in response, quickly turning away. This was not going to end well, he had a feeling. 

“I-I yes! Yes, of course! Um… T-Thank you?!” Makoto replied quickly, rushing in to, most likely, hug him. 

Byakuya quickly shoved him away, “No. You cannot touch me. And don’t tell  _ anyone  _ about this, I would hate it if they knew...” He added before walking into the room. He could hear Makoto quickly rush after him and close the door. “Did you lock the door?” He asked, knowing that he probably forgot somehow. 

The soft click of the door locking, confirmed his suspicion. He walked over to the bed and stared at it. He hadn’t really considered what was happening until just now. The two of them would either have to sleep in the same bed, or Makoto would have to sleep on the floor. 

“Umm… Where should I sleep…?” He heard Makoto’s timid voice ask. 

Byakuya huffed, “Wherever you want. While I would prefer you sleep on the floor… If you…” He paused, feeling awkward saying what he was about to, “If you want to sleep on the bed… With me… I’m alright with that.” he finally managed to force the words out of himself. 

Makoto smiled lightly and nodded, “if you’re alright with it…!” He replied walking to the other side of the bed. 

Byakuya huffed and sat down on the bed. He took off his glasses and set them onto the nightstand beside the bed and laid down and stared at the ceiling. Having Makoto - of all people - in the room with him made him feel even more uncomfortable. The light turned off, “I-I hope you don’t mind. I’m turning off the light” He heard Makoto say. 

“Mhm. Whatever.” He replied. He closed his eyes, hoping that the faster he fell asleep, the faster this would be over. 

The bed shifted as Makoto quietly slipped onto it beside him. Neither of them said a word, but the awkward tension could easily be felt in the air. 

After a few moments, he could feel Makoto’s head rest onto his shoulder. “What are you doing?” he whispered. 

Makoto mumbled something in response and wrapped his arms around the taller male. “M-Ma-” He quickly stopped, “Naegi!” He quietly corrected himself. 

“What…?” Makoto asked in response quietly. He sounded tired, as if he was barely listening. 

“What are you doing…!?” Byakuya asked him, trying not to raise his voice too much, as he, admittedly, didn’t want to disturb Makoto any more if he was falling asleep. 

“What? Cuddling.” Makoto replied simply. 

“W-Why?” Byakuya stammered, unsure of how to respond to the sudden affection. 

Makoto looked up at him with soft eyes, “Why not?” He replied. 

Byakuya huffed and pushed him off, “No. Just, no.” He shot back, “just go to sleep already…” 

Makoto frowned and turned away from Byakuya, “Fine…” He replied, sounding slightly sad or dejected. 

Byakuya totally wasn’t affected by that, at all. He stared up at the ceiling and for a while, thought that was the end of it. Well, until he turned over to his side and faced Makoto, who was not facing him. He bit his lip and hesitated before silently wrapping his arms about the smaller cute male. He hated to admit it, but it was actually quite comfortable, and comforting. He fell asleep with a small smile- Makoto did too. 

Byakuya awoke at some unknown time. All he knew was that it was not yet morning. He felt the very prominent urge to fall into a coughing fit. Usually he would just jump up and go over to the bathroom, but this time he had his arms around Makoto, which was not optimal. 

He hated to do it, but he didn’t have a choice. He unwrapped his arms and half walked half ran into the bathroom where he quickly and quietly closed the door. He didn’t have time to do anything else before he started coughing in a coughing fit. He didn’t even consider how or if Makoto would react, or if he would even acknowledge his absence. 

Right away, he could tell that this one was going to be a bad one. He grabbed onto the wall for stability as he put his other hand onto his mouth, trying desperately to stop the coughing. It didn’t work and he started trembling, and collapsed onto the ground, still hacking up the petals onto the ground. He clenched his hand that was currently clinging onto the wall, trying not to fall over into a heap. His other hand was now clenching onto his chest, which was in severe pain. He was coughing faster than he could catch his breath. At this rate, he felt like he was going to die. It hurt, that was all he could concentrate on. That was all he heard, all he felt. He could vaguely feel blood begin to pool in his mouth and scatter across the area. 

His vision blurred, he could feel tears threaten to fall down his face from the pain. He could barely breathe. He wasn’t going to die now, was he? He couldn’t, he wouldn’t let himself. He struggled to keep consciousness as suddenly there was a knock at the door. 

He’d never felt more dread than in that moment. He couldn’t stop coughing to answer, but still tried to move his hand in a waving motion, trying to dismiss whoever it was that he was ‘fine’ and that they ‘shouldn’t worry about it’. 

His heart stopped as the door suddenly opened. He never wanted a door to have a lock more than in that moment.  _ Shit.  _ He hadn’t cursed since he had gotten to the school, but this seemed like a fine opportunity to. 

He tried to quickly stand up and face them, or at least try to push them out of the room, but it was too late. He was one, too weak to do anything of the sort, and two, still hacking up blood and flowers. He managed to stop coughing for just a moment to swallow, only to taste blood, and quickly gasp for breath before continuing. 

He would have jumped as he felt a hand touch him on the shoulder, but he didn’t have the energy to. He also didn’t have the energy to keep coughing as his coughs slowly began to fade away, replaced instead by pained and raspy breathing, along with quiet sobbing, mostly because he couldn’t breathe for - what he assumed was - around two or three minutes. It was amazing he wasn’t dead yet. 

Slowly he could hear whoever was talking, he wasn’t sure if he hoped it was Makoto or not. “H-hey… W-What was that…? A-Are you… Alright now…?” He heard the quiet voice ask. He quickly identified it as Makoto.

His chest tightened as he struggled to speak, “y-yeah…” He grumbled. He took a few more deep breaths in before turning and pressing his face into Makoto’s chest, as best as possible with the large height difference. He wasn’t worried about the embarrassment, or the shame, or even the fact that he was crying. He wrapped his arms around Makoto into a hug, quietly trying to enjoy the moment of peace. 

Makoto seemed to quickly notice and wrapped his arms around him as well. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’...” He whispered, though there was no malice in his voice. Just concern and slight sadness. 

Byakuya couldn’t deny this statement and fell silent. “Maybe…” He rasped in response. He felt like his lungs were screaming, it hurt to breathe, but at least he was still breathing. 

He had a feeling Makoto was looking around the room because he eventually asked, “What was all of that about? Are you… Sick? W-What is…?” 

Byakuya would have sighed if it wouldn’t have burned, “U-Um… C-Can I… Explain later…?” He asked, uncharacteristically quiet. 

Makoto sighed and nodded, “Alright, that’s fine.” He replied. 

The two didn’t move from they’re places in the hug for a while before Byakuya shuffled out of Makoto’s grip. He quickly stumbled over to the sink where he washed out the metallic taste of blood in his mouth before collapsing back into Makoto’s arms. He hated seeming weak, but there was no hiding it now. He leaned against Makoto and slowly began to explain. He explained everything- well, beside the fact that it was Makoto he was currently falling for. He wasn’t sure he was ready to reveal that just yet. 

He gripped onto Makoto’s jacket as he glanced around the room. Blood had pooled around the area he’d previously been collapsed in, petals and flowers scattered across the floor in all directions. He cringed slightly, barely able to believe he’d caused that not long ago. Makoto silently slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around him, he grabbed onto him and attempted to get him to stand up. “Come on, let’s bring you over to the bed…” He mumbled. Byakuya silently obayed as best as possible and walked over to the bed where he collapsed backwards. Makoto sat down beside him. 

“Why didn’t you tell us about this…?” Makoto asked quietly. 

“W-What…?” Byakuya replied, “Oh… Yeah…” He grumbled. “Why should I have told you!?” He snapped, quickly regretting it as he coughed once more, luckily, it wasn’t bad and was just one cough. “I-I couldn’t just tell you… Who would’ve believed me? Who could I have trusted?” Quieter, he added, “how could I tell them all that  _ I  _ was in love…?” 

There was a long silence from Makoto, and for a moment, Byakuya thought he’d fallen asleep again. “I guess that makes sense…” he mumbled. He quietly wrapped his arms around Byakuya once more. “Still, you could have told someone! What happened moments ago… W-What if… What if something different happened? What if you’d died? What if, what if…” He trailed off. 

Byakuya couldn’t respond to that. He was both too tired to speak, and also just wasn’t sure how to reply. 

“Hey, Byakuya? You said something about this disease being caused by an unrequited love, so… Who’s it for?”

Byakuya sat there for a moment, wondering how to respond. He considered pretending to be asleep, but he didn’t feel like doing that. After what happened moments ago… If he didn’t say anything now, next time he’d probably die anyways. Might as well get things over with. He took a shaky breath in, “A-Ah… Um… Well… Feel free to leave now if you’d like…” he mumbled. When Makoto didn’t respond, he had a feeling that was a no. “A-Alright… Fine. You’re gonna make me say it, fine. It’s you. Alright? It’s you. I’m in love with you.” he snapped, expecting to be eagerly rejected. 

“Wait…? Really?” He could hear Makoto’s naive voice reply. 

Byakuya closed his eyes, silently preparing for the worst, “Are you deaf? That’s what I said, isn’t it?” He managed to snap. He held his breath, waiting for the worst outcome. 

“No, no! That’s not what I- I just… Um…” Makoto struggled to find the words. “I just didn’t think that… Um… Didn’t think you’d, uh, fall for me…?” 

Byakuya huffed, “Yeah, really…” He grumbled. He glanced over at Makoto, “so… Uh... A response? Hello? Did you also forget the question? Do I need to repeat myself?” he asked. 

Makoto paused for a moment, “I… Don’t know. I really didn’t consider it before you mentioned it…” He mumbled. 

Byakuya sighed, that wasn’t much of a straightforward response. “I need a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, a ‘maybe’ isn’t helping this situation.”

Makoto shrugged and leaned backwards, most likely forgetting that there was nothing to lean against as he quickly fell backwards onto the bed with a gasp. He quickly regained composure and sat up once more, “Ahem, uh, oh yeah- I-I guess I-”

“If you have to think about it, then the answer is probably ‘no’.” Byakuya interjected, tired of waiting for a response. 

Makoto huffed, “Well, no! That’s not what I-”

Byakuya sat up, eyes now narrowed. “Whatever, stop trying to deny it and get over with! If I’m going to die of this rejection, just get it over with.” He snapped, not meaning to sound so rude. It was most likely just the stress getting to him. 

Makoto’s eyes suddenly turned sympathetic, and it hurt him more than it probably did Makoto. “No, no! That’s not what I want, stop jumping to conclusions…” he replied quietly. 

“Well then, spit it out!” He demanded. He really didn’t mean to be that angry, but he was speaking irrationally. If only Makoto would be able to tell.

“I-I was going to say something else, but… If you don’t want to hear it, I’ll be quiet…” Makoto replied with a dejected expression. 

Byakuya bit his lip, slowly realizing what he’d said. He considered apologizing, but, when was the last time he’d apologized to anyone. Instead, he decided on hugging the smaller male tightly. He hadn’t really thought about what he’d done until he’d already done it. Too late to go back now. 

Makoto seemed shocked by this, as he didn’t move for a few moments. Eventually he accepted the hug and also wrapped his arms around him. The two of them sat like that for a few minutes in silence before Makoto broke the silence. “Your hugs are nice and warm…” He commented. 

Byakuya wasn’t sure how to reply to that. He’d never really hugged anyone for… Who knows how long ago. He hadn’t expected a compliment about his hugs. “I- uh… Yeah…” he replied, unsure what to say. 

“Mhm…” Makoto mumbled. He buried his face into Byakuya’s neck, making him shiver slightly by the unexpected contact. “I think I’m in love with you too.” he replied quietly. 

Byakuya felt his heart stop. He could instantly feel a weight in his lungs disappear. It felt like some kind of burden was lifted off of him. He stared at the smaller male for a moment before hesitantly kissing him. It was surreal. He never expected this to happen in his entire life. The two of them didn’t move until he pulled back to breathe. He could breathe better than before, but it still wasn’t great. He bit his lip, trying to stop himself from smiling, but it didn’t work. 

Makoto smiled, “Ah, you seem happy.” He commented. 

Byakuya sighed and shoved him in the arm, “You shut up…” He grumbled. He sighed and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling the tiredness catch up with him. “I’m feeling a bit tired…” He mumbled. 

Makoto shuffled around onto the bed and glanced over at him, “join me, we might as well get some sleep.” He offered. 

Byakuya wanted to refuse, but he really couldn’t. He rolled his eyes and laid backwards on the bed next to him. He could practically feel Makoto’s smile as he snuggled up beside him and wrapped his arms around the heir. This time though, he didn’t try to back away and just accepted the affection. 

**Author's Note:**

> I made this randomly as apart of some one word prompts that I was doing, and got "hanahaki" so that's how I made this. I started with Wattpad only, which was much easier to use, but, whatever. I like AO3 better- Not sure what else to put here... So-  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!


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